Patriots 2011 Opponents set

[PatsFans.com Article]

Patriots 2011 Opponents set
By: Derek Havens

The Patriots announced on Sunday afternoon that their opponents for the 2011 season have been set. The Patriots will be playing the AFC West and NFC East next season. ...

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS STORY​

 

[serifyn]

inc 16-0 2.0

 

[convertedpatsfan]

While technically correct that we will be playing the AFC East, I think author meant we'll also be playing the NFC East.

Also, the opponents are set (except for AFC South winner, which is Indy/Jacksonville). But other than that, set.

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

Trying not to get ahead of myself....

But when does the 2011 prediction thread start?

Im in for 14-2......AT WORST!!

 

[Sariana]

YAY!!!!! I might be able to finally see them at Washington!

 

[nabwong]

Patriots 2011 Opponents set
By: Derek Havens

The Patriots announced on Sunday afternoon that their opponents for the 2011 season have been set. The Patriots will be playing the AFC West and AFC East next season. ...

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS STORY​

lol. I think you mean NFC east.

 

[MDD]

A couple tricky road environments - Philly, Oakland, Denver . . . .

 

[Gwedd]

ANNNNNDDDDD....... once more the Patriots will be playing the Colts, though at Gillette, again. Sigh.

 

[BlueString94]

Looking forward to seeing the Giants blown out in Foxborough!

 

[I Augustus]

Looking forward to seeing the Giants blown out in Foxborough!

Sept 8,2011
NY Giants @ NE Patriots 8:30 PM ABC

 

[bostonia3333]

I'm getting tired of playing Indy every year--it would be nice to see some new blood. The AFC South is such a joke...it's not as bad as the NFC West, but man...the division gets a free pass every year. I wish they would just contract the AFC South and add Indy to the AFC north and contract Cleveland. Then you'd have one heck of a league

 

[zb25]

YAY!!!!! I might be able to finally see them at Washington!

I'm with you my man. I live in Maryland but I'm a diehard Pats fan. I hope I can get tickets, I really wanna see my fav team in person.

 

[Dufflebagz]

I'm getting tired of playing Indy every year--it would be nice to see some new blood.

Why? It's the most competitive rivalry in sports right now.

 

[JustEndTheSeason]

ANNNNNDDDDD....... once more the Patriots will be playing the Colts, though at Gillette, again. Sigh.

We are guaranteed to play the Colts the next two years, because the Pats play the entire AFC South in 2012

 

[420jim]

Who would have thought when the Colts left the division the Pats would play them every year still? This has to be the longest streak of playing a non division opponent ever. Or at least since the advent of divisions.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Why do we get both division champs in the Colts AND the Steelers even though neither are in the divisions (AFC West/NFC East) we're scheduled to play? I just don't get how they schedule.

 

[The_Riddler]

Watch, the Steelers, even after winning their division will once again somehow end up with the easiest schedule in the NFL, happens every year.

 

[alamo]

Why do we get both division champs in the Colts AND the Steelers even though neither are in the divisions (AFC West/NFC East) we're scheduled to play? I just don't get how they schedule.

You play you own division (twice), one entire other AFC division (AFC West), and one entire NFC division (NFC East). That accounts fot 14 games.

For the two remaining games, you play the teams in the remaining two AFC divisions which finished in the same place as you. That's why we face the Steelers and Colts, and the Jets will face the Ravens and Jaguars. This is a small nod towards encouraging parity, plus it also makes it more likely TV will have highly-anticipated games to show. Colts-Pats has become TV gold.

 

[godef]

Who would have thought when the Colts left the division the Pats would play them every year still? This has to be the longest streak of playing a non division opponent ever. Or at least since the advent of divisions.

We didn't play them in 2002... >hic<

Actually, in the old NFL, prior to 1960, everybody played everybody due to their being relatively few teams. So you'd have to qualify post-merger or post-AFL-start-up.

 

[godef]

Why do we get both division champs in the Colts AND the Steelers even though neither are in the divisions (AFC West/NFC East) we're scheduled to play? I just don't get how they schedule.

It's due to the schedule formula, based on the prior season's results.

Look at it this way: next season, within the AFC East, the Jets, Fins & Bills will all play a division champion twice (the Pats). But the Pats will play no division champions (can't play yourself). So the formula makes up for this by having them play the division champs from the other two divisions that they don't play round-robin with.

Ditto for all the other positions. As a result, next season, every team will play four games against 1st place teams, four games against 2nd place teams, four games against 3rd place teams and four games against 4th place teams.

An 18-game schedule would screw this all up.